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 1825 Father Francisco da
Silva Pinto e Maia of the Congregation of Missions from Macau
arrived in
Singapore and Founded the Portuguese mission. He
requested and obtained ecclesiastical jurisdiction from the
Archbishop
of Goa over
the catholics in Singapore. In the same year,
he obtained 12 lots of land
between Victoria street and Queen street from Samuel George
Bonham, Assistant to the Resident of Singapore. Six lots of land
were
granted gratis to the Mission and six lots were bought by Father Maia.
1829 There
were 200 catholics in Singapore, all under the care of
Father Maia. As there
was no Church or Chapel, Father Maia celebrated Mass in
the
house of Dr. Jose d'Almedia at Beach
road where the present Raffles Hotel now stands. Soon after, he built a
small Chapel on the
land that he obtained, and it was the first
Catholic Chapel in Singapore. In addition, he also built the
Parochial
House on a
site in Middle road opposite the present Priest House. Meanwhile,
he
also started collecting funds to build a proper Church.
1848 Unfortunately,
Father Maia became seriously ill and in his will written
on 23 September 1847, he left all his property and goods and
constituted
a fund for building a Church. Father Maia bequeathed to the
Portuguese Mission the 12 lots of land bounded by Queen
street, Victoria
street and Middle road. He
was
succeeded by Father
Vincente de Santa Catarina was appointed Vicar of St. Joseph's
Church in 1848.
1850 Father Francisco da Silva Pinto e Maia, the founder of the Portuguese Mission in
Singapore in 1825, died on 17 February 1850. His body was exhumed from
Fort Caning sometime later and
reburied in St. Joseph's Church and a palque was placed in his
memory in the
church.
 1851 On 14
December 1851 the first foundation stone of St. Joseph's Church
was laid by the Vicar, Father Vincente de Santa
Catarina.
1853 The St. Joseph's Church was officially blessed and opened. 1868 Father
Vincente added two
transepts to the Church and repaired the Parochial house which
stood at
Middle Road on the site till this decade
which used to be occupied by St. Anthony's convent. On December
1869,
Father Vincente took up his new appointment as Vicar General and
Superior of the Malacca Mission.
1869-1874 Father
Antonio Victorino Ignacio Sebatiao succeeded Father
Vincente as the Vicar in Singapore.
1870 Father
Nicolau Ignacio Theophilo Pinto was appointed as Assistant to Father Antonio Victorino.
1874-1891 On December 1874, Father Nicolau Ignacio
Theophilo Pinto was appointed
as
Vicar of St. Joseph's Church and Superior of the Portuguese Mission in
Singapore and Father Santa
Ana e Cunha who was appointed
as his Assistant, started St. Anne's School for boys and girls of
the
Mission. In
August 1884, Father Nicolau took
over management of the school.
1884 In August 1884, the Brief of the Holy See
Studio et Vigilantia was
published in Singapore, by which the jurisdiction of the
Archbishop of
Goa
over the Portuguese Mission in Singapore and Malacca was
transferred to
the French Mission. On 27 November 1884, the parishioners of St
Joseph
elected a committee and made representations to Pope XIII and the
King Louis I of Portugal
against the decision. On 24
December 1884, His Holiness agreed and withdrew the Brief.
1885 Father Nicolau Pinto rebuilt St. Anne's
school at the corner of
Middle road and Queen street and renamed it St. Anthony's.
He
also invited
the Canossian Sisters to Singapore to manage the school. In
addition,
Father Nicolau made plans to enlarge the Church
of St. Joseph
1886 Father
Nicolau Pinto organised the Apostleship of Prayer in St
Joseph's Church.
1886 A Concordat between the Holy See and
Portugal, stated that the
jurisdiction over the Portuguese Mission in Singapore and
Malacca
was
transferred from the Archbishop of Goa to the Bishop
of Macau.
1887 The
Concordat was confirmed by a Decree on 4 October 1887 and
the Portuguese Mission in Singapore and Malacca were placed under
the
jurisdiction of the Diocese of Macau, under Bishop Dom
Antonio
Joaquim
Medeiros. The Vicar general and the last parish priest appointed
by the
Archbishop of Goa remained in office until 1891.
1888 Father Nicolau Pinto established a
Parochial Board. Bishop Medeiros
of Macau presided over the meeting and gave specific
instructions to
Father
Vincente who was the Vicar General for the Missions to
oversee the
enlargement of the Church.
Unfortunately, Father Vincente returned to Goa in 1891.
1891 Father
Jose Joaquim Baptista, who assumed the office
of Vicar General on 21 March 1891, convened another
Parochial
board meeting and with permission from Bishop Medeiros of
Macau, formed a project committee to organise
a building fund for the purpose of enlarging the Church of St.
Joseph. The
project also included a scheme to provide for a Parochial
House and
a Girls School.
1897 Bishop Medeiros of Macau passed away. 1898 The
new prelate of the Diocese, Bishop Dom Jose Manuel de
Carvalho assumed
office in March and in December, Father Jose Joaquim Baptista was
transferred out to the Mission of Hainan.
1901 Bishop
Dom Jose Manuel retired due to poor health and was succeeded by Bishop
Dom Joao Paulino de Azevedo e Castro.
1904 The Bishop of Macau, Dom Joao
Paulino made a pastoral visit to the Mission in
Singapore and on 14 August 1904, he convened a general meeting
with
parishioners of
St. Joseph's church.
1904 On 21 August 1904, Bishop Dom Joao Paulino laid the foundation stone of the new St. Joseph's Church. 1906 In
1906, the old St. Joseph's
Church building was demolished and work started on the
erection of the new building. However, progress was slow and
it took six years before the new Church building was eventually
completed in 1912.
1912 On 30
June 1912, the new St. Joseph's
Church was blessed by the Bishop of Macau, Dom Joao Paulino de
Azevedo
e Castro and
opened for Mass.
1912 The old Parochial House was converted after extensive alterations into a Girls' School with a frontage on Middle Road. A new Parochial House - the present 3 storey building "Priest House" was built facing Victoria street, next to St. Anthony's Boys' School. Priest House
1918 The
faithful in Singapore, in a token of
gratitude to Bishop Azevedo e
Castro who passed away in Macau on 17 February 1918, placed a bronze
plaque in the wall on the right hand side of the nave of the
church.
 1929-1938 On 24 February 1929, Father Antonio da
Silva Rego took charge of the
Parish of St. Joseph's Church. In 1931, he reorganised the Apostleship
of Prayer and in 1932 he organised the Pontifical Work for the
Propagation of the Faith. In 1935, Father
Antonio started the Holy Hour on the
first Friday of every month and founded the Sodality of Our Lady
of
Fatima for boys and men. On 20 June 1936, he organised the
Eucharistic
Crusade for Children. Before
his retirement in Belgium, Father Antonio on 30 April 1938,
officially
launched the Catholic Action forming six sections:
1) Collectors for St. Anthony's Bread, 2) Good reading Movement, 3) Visitors for hospitals and private homes, 4) Sewing section, 5) Study circle, and 6) Propaganda section. 1948 In 1935, Bishop Dom Jose Coasta Nunes
succeeded Bishop de Azevedo
and suggested that a statue of Our Lady of Fatima be placed in the
niche of
the transcept beside the altar of Our Lady of Lourdes. Simultaneously,
devotions in honour of Our Lady of Fatima were begun in the Church. On
13 May 1948, the statue of Our Lady of Fatima was solemnly crowned with
a gold crown and the ceremony was commemorated with a procession
through the streets of Singapore.
1948 The statues of St. John de
Brito (left), St. Joseph (centre) and St. John of God (right) were
placed in the portico of the church.
1948 On 11 November 1956, a War Memorial
representing the Pieta was unveiled by Maj. Gen. T B L Churchill,
Military
Commander of the British GHQ Far East Land Forces to honour
parishioners of St. Joseph's church who were killed during World War
II.
It is placed in the nave of the church. The ceremony presided with the
Blessing of the plaque and the British Queens Regiment
sounding the Last
Post as the British flag was drawn aside. The Singapore Military
forces mounted a guard of four men and the ceremony ended with
the "Reveille".
 1954 To
mark the conclusion of the
Marian Year and on the initiative of the Sodality of Our Lady of
Dolores, a shrine to Our Lady of Fatima was built within the church
compound next to the Old
St Anthony's Convent. On 8 December 1954, the shrine was solemnly
blessed.
 Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima 1975 On 31 August 1975, the funeral parlour
building was blessed and opened
by the parish priest Father Bata.
 Crucifix in Parlour of repose 1976 The
first steps were taken by the Holy See towards the unification of
the jurisdiction in the Archdiocese of Singapore.
1977 On 26
July 1977, an agreement was made between the Archbishop of Singapore Gregory Yong and the Rt. Rev. Arquiminio
Rodrigues da Costa,
Bishop of Macau. It was
agreed that the Parish Church of St. Joseph in Singapore
belonging to the Diocese of
Macau would cease to be under the
jurisdiction of the Bishop of Macau and come under the ordinary
jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Singapore on a date to be
determined
by the Holy See.
1981 The Holy See, through the Council for
Public Affairs of the Church,
by
an instrument dated 27 May 1981, ratified all points of the
agreement
signed by the Bishop of Macau, the Archbishop of Singapore and
the
Apostolic Delegate on 26 July
1977 in Singapore. The
jurisdiction of
St. Joseph's church was transferred to the Archdiocese of
Singapore and ceased being a
Parish Church and became a Church of Devotion. Thus,
Father Francisco Bata who served in St Joseph's church
from
1962 to
1981 officially retired as the last Parish priest of St. Joseph's
Church.
1990-1999 Father Benito de
Souza concluded his term as Rector on 31 December 1999, closing the
chapter of St. Joseph's 175 year association with the Portugese Mission
in Singapore.
2000 Father Anthony Ho was appointed as Rector
of St. Joseph's Church by
the Archbishop of Singapore.
However, due to the poor health of Father Anthony, the administration
of the church
was left under the charge of Mgr. Father Francis
Lau.
2002 On 2
Jan 2002, Father
Michael Teo was appointed by the Rev Father Nicholas Chia,
Archbishop
of Singapore as the Rector of St. Joseph's Church. He is the current
Rector till today.
2002 Father Pierre Bathoulot was was appointed by the Rev Father Nicholas Chia, Archbishop of Singapore as the Assistant Rector of St. Joseph's Church. He died on 25 July 2004. 2004 Father Andre Christophe was appointed by the Rev Father Nicholas Chia, Archbishop of Singapore as the Assistant Rector of St. Joseph's Church on 18 December 2004. 2005 On 14 January 2005, St Joseph Catholic church was officially gazetted as a National Monument on 14 January 2005 by the Singapore Government. 2005 Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, Vatican Secretary of State made a visit cum courtesy call on St Joseph Church on 18 June 2005. |
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| Copyright: St. Joseph's Catholic Church @ 2005 |
Interior view of Present Church
